The most secret SHIELD operation
by cleo nightingale
Summary: SHIELD is having their annual summer barbecue where secretaries meet field agents. For exchange secretary Lilly Rosewood it was an exciting experience, but turns into a real adventure when the Avengers turn up and mingle with the crowd. Steve/OC rated M for adult theme in later chapter. Not in context with any of the movie plots.
1. Chapter 1

The after lunch coffee was starting to show its effect and Lilly shifted on her swivel chair from one cheek onto the other, crossing her legs under her desk to suppress the urge to pee just a little longer. It was almost 2pm, high season on the meat market.

Not that you think Lilly was working in food business. Oh no. Far from that. She was actually a secretary. Well, she was a little more than that but people from outside would see her sitting on her desk, typing reports, making phone calls, copying files and compiling things to hand to her team leader who then went to her team leader who then went to the boss, a man of mystery who Lilly had never met. Only heard stories of. Frightening stories. That was only one of the reasons why she looked forward to the upcoming event with apprehension: the infamous (and top secret) SHIELD summer barbecue. She was quite curious to catch a glimpse at the boss-man and she was pretty sure she could evade a talk with him, which she was far too nervous for. Not that she was talk-to-worthy anyway. In principle, she just needed to make a berth around all 6 feet tall black people with eye-patch and leather coat. Shouldn't be too difficult. But then, he was a spy. THE spy. The _master_ spy.

Lilly was pulled from her thoughts when another wave of tightening sensation hit her bladder and she just could not wait any longer if she wanted to walk normally to the ladies rest rooms. Dreading what was to come, she got up and made her way past the other desks in the office down the hall.

A group of women had gathered at the wash basins and was animatedly talking.

"Sorry ladies. Agent Lukin is already taken. Mary from human resources has dibs on him. Earmarked since two years now."

"What about the new one from Houston? The curly blonde?"

"The senior ladies have priority picking from the fresh ones. But I put you on the list and tell Rebecca."

"Who else is still available?"

Rita from the European Travel department laid a finger on her lips as she searched the list in her head. Of course there was nothing written down about this 'allocation of resources'. It was probably the most secret operation going on in SHIELD. And it was the most elaborate part of the preparation of the summer party. Have I mentioned yet that this infamous (and top secret) summer party is so infamous (only among SHIELD personnel for obvious reasons) because it is the biggest coupling market north of the equator? Well, it is. And it is the only occasion where SHIELD agents meet SHIELD secretaries, which is probably why the hook up is so easy. No problems afterwards as they do not meet until next summer barbecue and no hiding/acting because they know exactly what each others job is. It is just one boozy party and for most of the SHIELD personnel one exciting night afterwards.

And to avoid cat fights and competition among the office ladies over the agents, they had taken the organization of this part into their own hands. Since years actually. The unsuspecting agents would boast afterwards to their colleagues who they got tangled in the sheets with and none of them has wondered yet that most of them find someone. A far better success rate than in the free dating scene. That this is due to the excellent planning of the ladies from administration, they had no idea. The system was based on the collectors and distributors, the ones would collect the pairing wishes from the ladies and then meet with the others each day between 1 and 2 pm in the ladies rest room 7th floor, who have the field agent list of SHIELD in their heads. The lists were of course split between several women for safety reasons.

Lilly flushed the toilet and went out to wash her hands.

"Lilly, darling! What about you? Changed your mind?" Rita from European Travel was asking.

"No, thank you. That is not … I am not … interested." Lilly stammered.

"Ah, come on! You are going back to the L.A. office in two weeks! Take a little adventure! Something to remember!" Rita encouraged.

"No, really. I …" Lilly had anticipated the new persuasion attempt. This is why she avoided the rest rooms at early afternoon.

"What about Mike Develey? He would be the perfect fit for you! I can show you some pics!" Sarah from Weapons and Equipment Service piped in.

But Rita interrupted that. "No, Mike is taken. Like, real life taken."

"Really?" Sarah raised her eyebrows at that.

"Lucille from the archive has her eyes on him and he seems to be interested."

That was one thing the ladies were careful about. If one of their own had a real interest and deeper feelings for one of the agents, he was off limits for all others. And woes betide him if he tried to hook up with someone else on the party. Cold shoulders everywhere.

It was a whole other story if the match making for the party night short term pairs did not work out. There could be made adjustments on the 'second chance market' at the party location. But later more about that.

"Need to go back to work." Lilly excused herself and fled to the security of her cubicle. Only two days left until the party. Lilly knew that her colleagues only meant good for her. She came here from the LA office with the SHIELD office rotation program and the ladies had immediately taken her under their wings. They reserved her a seat for lunch, they invited her to birthday parties, and they would share their field agents with her.

Literally.

She was just so damn shy and all this one-night-stand stuff was not really her thing. She was a hopeless romantic. She had browsed through the pictures of all the pretty agents, read some very dangerous sounding field reports (illegally, one might add, but who was she to say no if Laura from Evaluation and Assessment offers the most exciting stories?) and dreamed about her own adventures and a knight in shining armour to rescue her from the bad guy. And she was pretty sure that stories like this do not start with a one-night stand. She wouldn't be able to look herself in the eyes afterwards. Not that she was a virgin or anything. There had been boys at college, nice boys.

Boy, actually.

Just one.

He was oh so perfect but she was not. Obviously. Otherwise she would be married, live in a nice green tinted suburb house with an apple tree in the garden and a golden retriever. But no. She had been too boring for him. He said that to her face, can you believe it? A 'We are not meant for one another' would have been hard enough but what she got was a 'Look at you! You wear teddy PJs and pig tails to bed! You think more than two beers make me an alcoholic and no, a movie and home-made popcorn is not what I imagine for a perfect Saturday night.' And that was that.

Maybe she was boring? Maybe she could use a little adventure?

"Miss Rosewood. I need the flight plan to Italy."

Lilly snapped out of her contemplation, grabbed the file from her desk and hurried over to the office of her team leader. No more thoughts were spend on the summer party this day.


	2. Chapter 2

It was amazing how well the match making worked. Lilly was standing close to the salad buffet (the biggest and most diverse she had ever seen) and was nibbling on a carrot stick. Not far off, the barbeque was sizzling and men with beers in their hands had gathered around to take their pick when the meat was to their liking. A group of ladies was throwing covered looks over to them and the men grinned and puffed up under the admiration of the secretaries. They probably were planning on who to get laid by tonight. Little did they know they had no say in this.

With glasses full of ice-cooled (and heavily spiked) fruit punch in their hands, the first ladies set out to collect their price for the night. Who starts early has more time to enjoy.

In the meantime, Lilly had decided which salad to try and shoveled some of this and some of that onto her plate and started to pick at it with a fork. It all went a bit unstable at that and she rescued her full plate onto one of the bar tables to eat more comfortably.

"Hey pretty lady. I haven't seen you around here!" a soft voice greeted her.

Lilly swallowed hard and checked her teeth with her tongue for salad leftovers before she turned sideways and smiled.

"Hi. I am not from here. I am from the LA branch." She answered politely.

"Ah, a newcomer. Welcome then." The blond man in a legere baby blue polo shirt and dark slacks flashed her a smile.

Lilly's mind went into overdrive. Who was he? SHIELD agent, obviously. Had the ladies set her up with someone? Was he breaking out of the plan? He didn't know the plan. Who to ask? Lilly's eyes went over his shoulder and looked for help.

"Are you waiting for someone?" he inquired a bit set back by her lack of response.

Her eyes snapped back to him. "Uh, no. I … I haven't seen you around here either." Of course not, silly. He is a field agent.

"Maxwell Howard. My pleasure, Miss …" he stretched out his hand.

"Rosewood. Lillian Rosewood." She took his hand and to her surprise he turned hers and placed a soft kiss on the back.

Oh oh.

She had to stop this. She was not on the list and he was for sure earmarked for someone else. Maxwell Howard. Maxwell Howard. Had she heard that name before? She had to find Rita. Now.

"Maxwell!" a cheery greeting was called their way.

Rita, thank god. And in her tow was one of the young travel agents from the asia devision. Her blue eyes were already glued to the presentable blond man at the table and she was subconsciously straightening out her ruffled yellow sun dress. Ah, his date for this evening. Not that he knew that. But he will. Soon.

How Rita managed it, Lilly had no idea but not two eye blinks later she was walking away with her arm casually hooked into Rita's. They left the pretty travel agent with the blond man, who had not even had the decency to look after Lilly. So much for his attention span.

"Thank you, Rita. I really did nothing and suddenly he was …" Lilly started to justify herself.

"No need to apologize, darling. I know Maxwell. He is always looking for new faces."

Puh, Rita was not mad at her for almost spoiling the plan. She took a look back at the couple.

"No need to worry either. He will be pretty content with Ally. You are safe from him." Rita patted her hand.

"Good." Lilly's reply sounded not as relived as it should have.

Rita spared her a knowing glance. "You are a bit disappointed, hu?"

Lilly said nothing. It was her own fault after all. She had decided not to take part in the game.

Rita patted her shoulder. "There is always a second chance, darling. Come to the ladies room upstairs in 30min. Until then, take a good look around." With that, Rita headed towards an unhappy looking girl from the archive. One more thing to fix to uphold the schedule.

And there she was again, standing alone under one of the huge willows. Her plate with food was back at the bar table with Maxwell. No chance to get that back. She would have to take a new one and pick new salad. Good, because that pasta pineapple curry mix had not been the best choice and its dressing was leaking onto all the other nice salads on the plate.

Settling back under the willow with her new salad plate on her lap she munched away on refreshing green with tomatoes and pepper while observing the bustling on the meadow between the buffet tables. It was amazing how the more experienced women drew in the attention of their unsuspecting target. One might think an agent would be aware of being tricked into something but they seemed to be totally oblivious. What was even more amazing was that the female field agents were just as oblivious. There are also male colleagues in the office, you know. And the plan worked just the same for them.

Lilly had scanned carefully but she hadn't seen a black leather coat yet. Mindy from Operation Supervision had informed her, that the master-spy-boss was busy in New York. Avengers Business. So she would probably never see the boss in person, except when aliens attack the SHIELD travel devision in LA. Not likely. And not desirable. Lilly really valued her life, quiet and uninteresting as it might be.

She checked the little golden clock that was hanging as a pendant around her neck. Ten more minutes to decide if she wanted to get on that list or not. She might not even have a chance by now to get anyone. Most of the agents already had a secretary on their arm. But did she really want to sit alone on a party all evening? Not really. And playing fifth wheel totally sucked. Huffing slightly, she got up and made her way to the mansion and up the creaking wooden stairs to the 1st floor bathroom.


	3. Chapter 3

"He is sooo not interested I tell you. I need an alternative." A brunette, who Lilly did not know, complained.

"Alright, alright. Has he matched up with someone yet?" Rita enquired.

"No. But I think he eyed Amanda."

All eyes shifted to a short strawberry blonde, who was refreshing her lipstick. "Me?"

"I think so. He definitely checked you out when you got punch."

"So? You take him?" Rita asked.

The strawberry blonde considered. "Hmm. Yeah, that's fine with me. Then Allan is free to have. But be aware that he is in a 'complain about his ex-wife' phase."

"So, Allan Fletcher anyone?" Rita announced, making a mental note of the newly scheduled pair.

No one spoke up.

Letting her eye wander around the crowded room, Rita noticed Lilly off to the side at the sinks. "Lilly! Welcome! You want to join?" she directed at her.

Lilly swallowed hard. She had made up her mind outside and she would not draw back now. "Uhm, yes. But not Agent Fletcher." She did not want to sound picky but he was far too old for her and honestly? He was kind of creepy. She had seen pictures and he always had that creepy 'if I get you alone' smile on.

"Fine. And no worries. Fletcher is not the most demanded one among all of us. Let's see. Caroline? You said Richard W. is straying?"

Caroline shrugged. "I think so. He might not stay with me until the evening is over and the night begins. But that is fine with me. I share with Lizzy."

Share? What? How?

Rita nodded with an understanding smirk. "Agent Reese, hu? Have fun, girl!" Lizzy gave a thumbs-up and left.

Lilly would rather not think about what sharing meant in this context but her cheeks turned a little pink nonetheless. She was probably going to hear it next Monday anyway. In great (graphic) detail.

"So Richard is back on the market, ladies." Rita declared.

"I might …" the brunette from the beginning of the trade spoke up again.

Just at that mention, a totally exhausted blonde barged into the slightly overcrowded bathroom. She was fanning herself with her hand and was gasping for air.

"Mindy, honey! What happened?"

"You … woulnd't *pant* believe *gasp* it. They are here."

"Who?" Lilly enquired.

Rita's eyes widened . "No. Really? Ladies! Emergency plan A into action. List number two is valid from now on. All of them?" Rita directed at the still gasping Mindy.

She only nodded her head, still unable to speak.

Lilly was absolutely clueless what was going on.

"Hmm, I secured Derek for myself already. So Barton is back on market." Rita declared.

The brunette from earlier held up her hands in defense, when Rita looked her way. "Not for me. That man is quite a handful. I stick with Richard."

Barton? Lilly had heard that name before. A first name would help to sort that out.

"I go for the captain." Mindy interjected, still panting but hurrying to make a claim.

"Good luck with that, romantic fool." Rita shook her head.

The captain? What captain?

"Lilly?" Rita looked at her.

"She is the newcomer. Why should she choose first?" a woman with caramel streaks in her fake blonde mane spoke up.

Rita silenced her with a stare. "She is a SHIELD sister as we all are. Same right for everyone."

Her steely gaze softened and turned back to Lilly.

"So? Interested? Maybe not Clint. That would be quite too much for you I guess." Rita contemplated.

"Clint? Clint Barton? HAWKEYE CLINT BARTON!?"

"Pst!"

"Shush!"

"Not so loud!"

Lilly shrank a bit by the chastising from all the women. "The Avengers are here?" she whispered.

Rita nodded with gleaming eyes. "Yeah, honey. The Avengers are here. The shy doctor Banner maybe? But you have to know, he wouldn't go home with you. He never does. He is nice company for the evening though."

Lilly couldn't quite comprehend her luck. To see the Avengers. Wow. That was just wow. Then reality hit her. To be paired off with one of them? No way. Well, the Captain was really sweet from what she had heard and seen on TV. But he was so … so …. iconic. No way she would even find words to speak to him. Well, after the comments from moments ago she was really afraid what Agent Barton would demand and he was so out of her league. He was right second to the master-spy-boss-man himself when it came to intimidation and deadliness. Doctor Banner sounded nice although she couldn't connect a face with the name. Wait. Wasn't he … the HULK?! Oh god. What when she said the wrong things to him? Or stepped on his toe when dancing?

"I … I think I pass." She stammered. "I changed my mind." A little whiter in the face than when she had entered the bathroom, she left it and walked down the stairs. Excited office ladies were making their way upstairs, no doubt intending to make their dibs and change their 'assignment'.

When Lilly went finally back outside, a crowd of ladies had gathered close to the barbeque and in the middle she saw the back of a blonde head. Off to the side she saw two men she hadn't noticed before. They leaned casually on a table and smirked at the surrounded man, clearly gloating.

Lilly recognized the one with the dirty blonde spiky hair from some files she had seen at the SHIELD office. (Illegally. Again.) It was agent Barton. He looked a bit different though, a Jeans and a faded T-shirt was not a SHIELD uniform and it made him much less intimidating than the pictures with him in blood splattered black kevlar gear.

Lilly's head snapped back to the gathered crowd of skirts and the blonde man in the middle. Would that then be the Captain? Captain America? She rose a bit up but her feet were rooted to the spot. She wouldn't dare to get any closer. The likelihood of embarrassing herself (by showering someone with punch, by tripping over her own feet, by smiling at someone with green bits of salad between her teeth, there were so many possibilities …) was far too high. So the plan for the evening was set and it was a quite entertaining one. Lilly would watch the Avengers. Live. It was sooo exciting! Would they mingle with the other SHIELD personnel? Would the ladies get lucky with one of them?

Lilly sauntered around the lush meadow round after round. The flock of women around the captain had thinned out and she had glimpsed his face and a polite smile once and again. He really looked like taken straight from a 50ies romance novel. If only this kind of guy was real. Well, you know what I mean. He was real but he was one of a kind, probably.

Lilly had stared a bit too long, because when her dreamy eyes got focused again, they met the eyes of the Captain. He was looking at her. Damn, she had gotten too close. There still were two animatedly talking women, hanging branches from a willow tree and a stone bench between them and she had thought to be sneaky. But, yeah, he was Captain America for a reason. And it took her only the blink of an eye to flush bright red under his stare. When the urge to flee finally got the upper hand and her shock wore off, she turned on her heel and went in a wide ark back to the mansion.

He had caught her staring. From the distance. Like a creepy stalker. Gods, she was acting like a silly fangirl. And now she was fleeing the scene like she had been caught doing something improper. Could the ground please open up and swallow her whole? She needed to hide. Definitely. Her feet had carried her to the mansion and into the kitchen which opened with large double doors directly to the garden.

She stepped into the kitchen and immediately two steps to the side to get out of sight from the garden. Breathe, Lilly. Breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

"Hey there. You looking for somethin'?" a deep voice sounded from behind her.

Her eyes snapped open and her pulse sped up again. "No!" her answer came a little too fast.

"Whoa. You running from something?" Lilly heard a snickering sound from the other corner of the kitchen.

She finally turned to the source of the deep voice who had spoken first, fumbling for words. "I, uh, I was ..." but she lost it when she recognized Agent Barton. And he was looking at her. Expecting her to finish her sentence. His piercing crystal clear eyes set on her. Once again, she suffered from the deer in the headlights phenomenon. Her eyes searching frantically for some excuse. They finally fell to his hands and the bottle of beer in them.

"I was looking for something to drink?" It came out more as a question than an answer.

"Help yourself!" He made a gesture towards the double door fridge but Lilly didn't move. That was becoming awkward really fast.

"I think you need something stronger." Came the second voice from the corner and as if to underline the statement, the man swirled the golden liquid and the ice cubes in his tumbler around.

Lilly nodded mutely.

He came over to the counter and opened a bottle, poured some of the golden liquid into a clean glass and added two ice cubes from the cooler on the counter. He handed it to her. Lilly stared at him. She knew him. She knew him from somewhere. That dark wavy hair and the carefully groomed beard should give her a clue but she was never good with faces and tonight she was totally out of it.

"Here. Drink up, little lady." he offered the glass to her.

She took it with a shaking hand and rose it to her mouth. The liquid in it smelled awful, like turpentine. Her eyes stayed glued to the dark blue sleeves with the silver cuff links of the man, who had handed her the glass. Man up, Lilly! Drink it! The liqueur was stinging her tongue and scratching her throat but as soon as it warmed her belly, she felt a lot calmer.

"Whoa there. Not so fast!" The man in the blue shirt warned but Lilly had already downed the whole glass of whiskey. She held it out again.

If this was calming her that good, she needed more. Definitely.

The man smirked and refilled her glass, while the second one, Agent Barton, eyed her from the side.

Lilly rose the glass to her lips again and took big gulps to refill the calming stream of lava in her belly, while her eyes met warm chocolate ones over the rim of the glass.

"This might get interesting." he stated with a smirk.

"Keep it together, Stark." Agent Barton warned.

Lilly coughed on her whiskey. Stark? As in Tony Stark? As in IRON MAN a.k.a. TONY STARK?! She set the tumbler down on the counter and bend over, coughing more violently to get the burning liquid out of her trachea. A warm hand was clapping on her back slightly to help her coughing.

"I told you." Lilly could hear the smile in Tony Stark's voice.

God, she had made an ass out of herself in front of half of the Avengers.

Tony's hand had stopped clapping her back and instead had drifted a bit lower, where it rested warm against the small of her back. Lilly looked up again, with watery eyes from the violent coughing.

"You okay?" Tony Stark was standing closer to her than she had realized and she was on the edge of another deer-in-headlight-trance. And the thumb that was rubbing small circles on her back was not helping.

His other hand reached out to set a strand of hair back behind her ear and oh so softly grazed her cheek. Heat rose up and blushed her face in a beautiful shade of pink.

"Oh come on, Stark." Agent Barton complained from behind the counter.

Tony directed his attention to his fellow Avenger and send him a 'don't interrupt this' stare, but it was too late. Lilly had snapped out of her trance and used the chance to escape. Fast steps took her out into the garden and over the small bridge into the copse of willow trees.

"See what you did?!" Tony complained to Clint. "Only because you are getting none doesn't mean I have to be celibate."

"She was half your age, Stark. And you were filling her up with Glenfiddich."

"I appreciate youth, when I can get it." Tony justified.

"Well, you won't get this one." Clint smirked.

"We will see." And with that, Tony strode out into the garden like a man with a purpose.


	4. Chapter 4

In her haste to get away, Lilly lost one of her favorite pearl-colored mary-janes. She was too shocked and too dizzy to realize it and only when she settled down behind a large willow, she felt the cool air on her left foot. Her knees were too shaky to get up again. The calming effect of the whiskey was turning into a dizzy drunkenness. She leaned back into the scratchy tree bark and recalled what had happened. She had stalked Captain America, she had a staring match with agent Barton and Tony Stark, Tony freaking Stark, Tony _playboy_ Stark, had made advances on her. She had almost sputtered that brown turpentine onto his shirt and had fled the scene like a maniac. Oh god. There was no way she was going back to that mansion as long as anyone was still there.

She stretched out her legs and straightened out her flower print sun dress. It was fine to sit here. She had eaten enough of the salads and was not thirsty. She could see the small bridge over the artificial creek and the gazebo it led to. Rose bushes surrounded it and a wisteria gave a romantic touch. She would just wait for the evening to pass and watch the enchanted garden.

"Oh, hi." a soft voice shook Lilly from her feathery dream state a while later. "That belongs to you?"

She glanced up at the tall figure standing over her. Broad shoulders, neatly combed hair and a well-shaped silhouette greeted her. Only when he crouched down and the setting sun was no longer blinding her, she recognized the Captain.

"I found it on the way." he said.

Found it? What? Her gaze wandered down his arms to his hands that were holding her beige shoe.

"Oh! I lost it!" Lilly exclaimed.

She wiggled her feet, one bare and one clad in the second shoe. The Captain looked at her feet. Then back up at her. Then back at her feet.

Lilly sucked in a breath when he crouched down, grabbed her ankle softly and put the missing shoe back on. His hands were warm and soft and gentle. She giggled, still dizzy from the alcohol and being a little ticklish.

The Captain took his hands back to himself fast at that, looking embarrassed at her. "I apologize, Ma'am, I ..." he stumbled over the words.

Lilly giggled again. "This is so Cinderella."

The captain looked at her a bit dumbfounded but then his face turned into a pleasant smile. "Yeah, I guess it is. May I ask the name of the princess?"

"Lillian. Lillian Rosewood." She held out her hand to him.

He knelt down on one knee from his crouching stance and feathered a kiss onto the back of her hand. "My pleasure. My name is Steve Rogers."

My god, could that get any more fairytale-y?

"I know." Lilly let him know.

He rolled his eyes and looked back at the trail he had taken from the party to this silent, hidden place. "I guess everyone knows."

Lilly smirked and nodded.

He sighed. "May I stay here for a while? Being me can be a bit overwhelming at times."

Lilly shifted to the side and patted the place on the grass next to her. The alcohol was definitely doing good things to her shyness.

Steve settled down next to her, careful not to touch her, stretched out his legs and leaned back into the tree.

"You shouldn't hide here too long. Mindy will come looking for you." Geez, shut up Lilly.

"I am not hiding. And how do you know about Mindy?" He sent her a sideways glance.

"I, uhm, was at the market?"

"The market?"

So much for alcohol doing her good.

"Oh, forget that I said that." She pleaded.

"Are you hiding here, too?" He inquired. So he was indeed hiding!

"No!" that was too fast to sound genuine. "Maybe." followed a little whisper. "And I was not even on the list." she mumbled.

"Which list?"

Damn, Lilly. Will you keep your mouth closed! She covered her eyes with her hand. "You are not supposed to know that." And a little more silent and to herself. "Stupid Stark and his whiskey."

Steve had heard that and eyed her critically. She hadn't striked him as someone who would get drunk with Tony Stark. She seemed a little tipsy though. Maybe he had misjudged her, when she had timidly tiptoed around the meadow earlier?

"You are hiding from Stark?" There was a little disappointment in his voice.

Lilly wretched her hands in her lap and nodded, while lowering her gaze.

Steve didn't know how to interpret that but his disappointment started to shift into protectiveness. Had that insufferable man done anything to her? It did not seem to be beyond him. She was young and beautiful and definitely fit Stark's prey pattern.

"Are you okay?" he inquired with a softer voice, placing his hand on her lower arm for support. He felt the goosebumps on her cold skin. "You are cold." And before she knew it, he was wrapping his leather jacket around her shoulders. "We should head back to the mansion. The night will get chilly." Steve made to stand up but Lilly put her hand on his arm this time.

"Can we stay here a little longer?"

Steve looked into her pleading eyes.

"I don't get to be Cinderella very often." Lilly smiled bashfully.

He settled back down again. How could he resist that smile?

They stared into the darkening evening sky in silence. Lilly wrapped up in the soft and warm jacket and in its smell of leather, sandalwood, soap and something else enticing, tickling her senses.

The captain sat next to her, sparing glances at her shiny patent-leather shoes, her slim ankles, her creamy white shanks, that disappeared under the silky flower-print dress. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. What was he doing? Breathing in deeply did nothing to calm him because the faint scent of lemon invaded his senses. He involuntarily turned his head towards the source. Was it her shampoo? He looked at the soft reflections the fairy lights in the tree above them drew into her hair. Her eyes seemed unfocused and directed into the night sky, her slightly pointy nose gave her face a youthful expression and the curved lips were set slightly apart.

"Isn't that a beautiful sight?" she whispered.

His eyes snapped up to hers but she hadn't caught him staring. She was still looking out into the sky.

"I tend to forget how many stars are out there when I am in the city for so long." she sighed.

Indeed the first bright stars started to shine and the faint glow of the Milky Way was visible beyond them.

"Do they look the same like 70 years ago?" As soon as the question had left her mouth she mentally slapped herself. He must think she is totally retarded. She turned her eyes insecurely towards the blonde man next to her.

He had his eyes in the sky. A sigh loosened from deep within him and his shoulders slumped a bit. Well done, Lilly. Now he thinks about his own time and what he has left behind. She and her stupid questions. Stark and his stupid whiskey.

Just when she thought he wouldn't speak at all, she heard a silent "Yes, they do. They are one of the few things that haven't changed." He sounded a little lost.

"When I am homesick, I go to the roof and look at them. They look the same as home. This bright one over there" Lilly pointed her finger to the right, her arm crossing in front of Steve's face. "that one would be right over Old Jemima's barn. She makes the best pumpkin pie in the world."

The corner of Steve's mouth lifted up a bit while he was not really looking where she pointed but at her gleaming eyes. Lilly didn't notice. She was in her element now and was thinking of home. Not her LA home. Home in Ohio. The real and only home.

"And this one. You see the one at the end of this line?" She turned her enthusiastic look only shortly to Steve's face and then right back into the night sky. "This one would be over the church tower." She shifted to the other side. "And the bunch over there is right above my favourite oak tree, where I fell from that swing when I was little because stupid Chuck Miller had notched the strings." And she would have rambled on and on about Chuck Miller and how she got back at him for her scraped knee by painting his bicycle bright pink, had she not felt that shallow breath grazing the side of her neck. She froze. Her own breath stuck in her lungs. Then, a well shaped arm appeared close to Lilly's head in her line of sight so she could follow it and see where the finger pointed to. It was the same stars she had pointed out. Not that Lilly was looking at the sky right now. Her head might be but her eyes were glued to that arm, to the softly tanned skin, the veins in it, the muscles and the strong hand at the end of it. Oh, god. Captain America's unclad arm was almost touching her and she could undoubtly smell the minty scent on his breath as he spoke. He must sit very close to her.

"This cluster over there is Lyra. The legend says it belonged to Orpheus, the ancient Greek musician." He told her in a soft voice. "He could charm all living things with his music and when his wife Eurydice died, he played songs so sad, that even the gods wept. He went to the underworld for his wife and with his music he softened the heart of Hades and freed his Eurydice. Only when he broke the one condition of her freedom, that he shall not look back at her while walking back to the upper world, he lost her again and this time forever."

When the arm lowered, Lilly could not refrain herself from slightly turning towards him and he really was closer than before. His shoulder was brushing hers (although hers was now clad in his leather jacket) and he was still leaning over a bit. His sad blue orbs set on her face. Lilly's brown doe eyes turned up towards him. And the silence stretched on. He did not move, neither did she.

"That is sad." She whispered finally to break the silence. She couldn't bear it any longer.

"It is." He agreed.

Her eyes turned down to his hands that were resting on his tighs. "Are there happy stories in the night sky, too?" She didn't mean to sound as innocent and chaste as she did.

Steve blinked and looked at Lilly a little longer. He hadn't expected to find someone like her in a place like this, someone so sincere and friendly and open among the ranks of SHIELD. Agents were tough to deal with and, as he had learned today, even the secretaries were, uhm, quite forward in their intentions. He was sure he had felt a hand squeezing his backside earlier when he was grabbing a hamburger from the barbeque. Lilly's modesty was refreshing and a stark contrast to the mob of eager women back at the party. She was nice and quiet company and he could use a little nice and quiet.

"Are there?" her soft voice whispered and she looked up again with her big hazel eyes.

Steve smiled an honest smile down at her and then turned his gaze back to the stars. "This over there is Andromeda." And with that, he told her the story of how Andromeda was to be sacrificed for the vanity of her mother and how Perseus rescued her and married her.

Lilly had recognized the tale when he was halfway through but did not tell him that she had seen the movie. She liked his voice and how well he told the story and did not want him to stop. They came from this tale to the next and she did not really know how they ended up with Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. Steve told her he had seen the movie, the original movie, back in his time in the theater and Lilly wanted to ask him so many things about the past and how it really was. She had never spoken to a man this long and with being so comfortable about it. Maybe she should thank Stark and his whiskey. Maybe not Stark, but the whiskey. She wasn't a drinker, not at all. Punch was fine with her and a fruity cocktail also but the strong stuff was not her thing. Much less getting drunk. She got dizzy quite fast and was then getting tired even faster but these two glasses of burning brown liquor back at the mansion had helped her definitely over being awkward to being comfortable around a man like Steve.

Yes, Steve.

She thought no longer of him as Captain America. He wasn't the soldier. He was the man from another era, an era with better manners and kinder men. Her mind drifted off to movie scenes from the 50ies and how she imagined herself being a loving wife, who baked pies and cooked dinner for her impeccable dressed, well mannered husband. She might be even imagining all that in black and white. She got dreamy again and her eye lids drooped a little bit, so she startled when Steve spoke again.

"We should head back. It is getting late."

Oh god, had he seen her dozing off? She hadn't meant to make him feel uninteresting or so. A cold breeze of night air was waking her up again. The leather jacket was keeping her wonderfully warm but her legs were freezing. She really should have worn tights.

"My lady?" Steve was already standing and offered his hand to help her up. Lilly took it but the sudden change in position and what was left of the alcohol, which coursed through her veins, had her wavering. "Careful." Steve said and steadied her. "Shall we?" he offered his arm like a true gentleman and Lilly weaved her own arm through. They started heading back towards the mansion in silence. Soft music was drifting their way through the garden and Lilly could make out a couple in the gazebo, dancing slowly. Well, she had a nice evening as well, much nicer than she had expected, and it was really a shame that it would end. But she assumed as soon as they were back in company, Steve would attract attention and she would get her earful from Rita and Mindy. Especially from Mindy.


	5. Chapter 5

The walk took long but then, they were quite slow, which Lilly was thankful for. She could neither see where her feet were stepping nor could she even remember the way back. But they inevitably reached the edge of the meadow, which was now illuminated by fairy lights.

Steve slowed them to a halt. "So," he said indecisively. Manners told him to lead her over to the other people, that where gathering closer to the better lit mansion where the music was playing and loud chatter could be heard. Maybe get her a drink. But, alas, he did not want to get back there. He wanted to stay out here and have her soothing company for himself. He wanted to be selfish for once.

Lilly felt his hesitation and was thankful for it. She did not want to go back to her colleagues just yet. If the evening had to end, and due to her tiredness that was pretty soon, it should end on a good note and not on lewd comments, noisy laughter or even scolding. She patted Steve's arm. "Thank you for entertaining me. I am sorry if I kept you for too long from the party."

"No, no! It was …. I enjoyed our ..." he stammered. What was it? A rendezvous?

"Me too." Lilly agreed eagerly before he could define what they had shared.

They both looked from each other back to the mansion.

"We should get over there." Steve said in a sad tone. Their ways would probably part in mere seconds.

Lilly yawned again. "I think, I will head home."

"Oh." Steve sighed. Well, that crushed the little hope he had to keep up a conversation with her.

"I … oh." She halted. "I should not drive." Yeah, thank you again, Tony Stark. She had driven here with a little car borrowed from a friend and brought Ellen and Suzie from human resources along, who assured her they would not need a ride home. It was only her now, but she was a very responsible driver and she knew her limits. She wasn't drunk but still a bit tipsy and it was better to be safe than sorry. She looked a little helpless to Steve.

"I will call you a cab." he stated and made to move to the mansion, feeling good that he could offer one more gentlemanly service to Lilly.

"Yes, that would be best." she agreed hesitantly. "I need to get back here and get the car then tomorrow." she contemplated. "Somehow."

Steve struggled with himself a bit before speaking up again. "I, … I could drive you home." he offered. Hopefully that didn't sound too intrusive to her ears. "With your car I mean. Then you wouldn't need to get it tomorrow." he added quickly.

Lilly's eyes turned to him again. Oh. OH. He was offering to bring her home. To her door step. Now that was a proper ending of a romantic evening if there ever was one. And yes, she filed this evening definitely under 'romantic' with all that star gazing and tale telling and sitting in a bewitched garden.

Steve looked a bit uncomfortable.

Had she somehow forced him to offer this? She didn't mean to. If he didn't want this, then she would take that cab. What had her exact words been?

"Oh, you don't have to. I don't want to keep you from the others." Lilly tried to reassure him.

"No! No. It's fine, really. I am not one for this kind of parties."

They looked at each other again and as soon as a smile appeared on Lilly's lips, it was mirrored on Steve's face.

"So then." Steve offered his arm again but while Lilly took it and stepped into the direction of the drive way, Steve stood rooted to the spot. He had doubts, didn't he? It had been too good to be true.

"I came here with a friend." he remembered suddenly. "I have to tell him I leave." He looked back at the mansion. He had to get back in there, if only for a few minutes. "He won't mind me leaving, don't worry. I just want him to know."

Lilly let go of his arm. "I wait here it that is okay." She really didn't want to meet any colleagues this evening. It helped storing the events in her memory not under 'SHIELD' but under 'romantic ball with bits of Cinderella and a prince'.

Steve nodded shortly "I will hurry." and then strode towards the chatting crowd purposefully.

She saw him entering the crowd. People immediately parted when he approached and he disappeared into the mansion. Time to cool her head a little bit. Her legs and toes might be freezing but her head had heated up more than once in the last minutes. If there had been enough light, you would have seen pink tinged cheeks. Lilly patted them absentmindedly and then tried to fix her hair as best as she could without a mirror. She reset the hair pins and draped the strands from the front in place. Her hands plucked at the neckline of her dress and maybe she even adjusted her bra a bit.

Steve's offer had caught her off guard and although the effects of the alcohol seemed to fade, there had been no time for her shyness to kick in. Now that she was thinking about it, she started to get nervous. He will bring her home. And she lived alone. She could ask him in and offer a coffee. Did he expect that? Nah, unlikely. He was a 40ies gentleman after all. Did she want to ask him in? Hello _oo_ , shyness. She would want to spend a little more time with him, or maybe a lot more, but rather not in the oppressive confines of her apartment. Of her tiny, sparsely furnished, impersonal (she was only here for the 5 months exchange program) apartment, that is. She would want to visit the zoo, walk in the park to feed that cute duck couple, go to the history screening Tuesdays in her local cinema and watch the Wizard of Oz, show him to her favourite pancake diner. So many things to do but yeah, it was in the middle of the night after a party and only 5 minutes ago she had claimed to be tired. She wasn't that tired anymore and the closer the goodbye came, the wider awake she was.

Steve was nowhere in sight. Good, more time to think this through. Ah, hell. There is nothing to think, Lilly. You like him and want to meet him again but you are too shy to ask. Would he even want to meet? Maybe she had been just nice company for the evening. Had she even been nice company? Hadn't she been too plain and boring? The stinging words of her ex rang in her ears again.

So lost in her own thoughts, she did not hear the person stepping out of the small willow copse and walking towards her until he spoke. "Look what we have here!"

Lilly startled.

"I have been looking for you all evening." He stated. His eyes roamed down her body and up again.

"Mister Stark." Lilly addressed him flabbergasted.

When his eyes reached her face again, Lilly dropped hers down immediately.

"Have you been hiding, little lady?" he asked amused.

"What? I … uhm … no, I …"

"Aww, sweet. You have!" he chuckled.

"No. I … I have been enjoying the garden." Lilly mustered up in a semi-confident voice. Her eyes rose up but she couldn't quite bring herself to look him in the eye so she rested hers on the collar of his shirt.

"Yeah, me too." He said in a smug voice.

Something was wrong with his shirt, Lilly observed. It looked rumpled and not neatly tucked into the slacks as it should be. Wait, was it buttoned up wrong? He had … he was … oh … Oh … _enjoying_ _the_ _garden_ … Lilly's eyes shot up to his face and only now did she notice his tousled hair. He was rubbing at the corner of his mouth with his thumb. His lips looked far too red for a man. Lipstick leftovers? Oh god, she was staring at his lips.

Tony smirked as he watched Lilly observe him and he could pinpoint the exact moment when she realized what he was referring to. Her eyes widened the tiniest bit, her delicate eye brows shot up, her lips formed a little 'oh' and that blush she was already wearing deepened further. She was such a sweet innocent little thing. Not at all like the SHIELD vampires who had almost tackled him and latched onto him earlier. Not that he minded. Especially not the latching on part.

He was brought back from his reminiscence by the audible swallowing from Lilly.

"So, you want another drink? I got the feeling you liked those." he offered.

Lilly shook her head firmly.

Tony chuckled again.

"Maybe something fruitier for the lady this time? Come on." he offered his arm to her.

And she just stared at it. Tony beckoned again, offering his arm and was a little irritated when she would still not take it.

"I … I am leaving. For home." Lilly finally managed to get out.

"So soon?" he feigned disappointment. "Alone?" he added in a suggestive voice.

Lilly stared at him with her big doe eyes, a little shocked on his insinuation. At least that was what he thought. Then he noticed the heavy leather jacket around her shoulders, which she had drawn closer around her. It was far too big for her and it looked somehow familiar.

"Whose jacket is that?" His tone inquisitive now.

"It is mine." sounded the authoritative voice of Steve. He was taking the last long strides towards them and stepped to Lilly's side.

What he really meant was ' _She_ _is_ _mine_.' and according to his raised eye brow and the slight frown, Tony Stark had understood. A short staring match ensued.

"Cap, who would have thought?!" Tony finally directed at Steve. It really took him by surprise. The Captain took part in this … fuck fair? Maybe he had rubbed off on him? Oh, Coulson would be furious if he knew he had soiled his picture-perfect soldier. But it was probably nothing at all. Knowing the Captain, he would escort the little lady home and give her a chaste peck on the cheek as goodnight. And Lilly seemed the type for this romantic stuff.

"I hoped you had a thing for older guys but this, ah well, is a bit much." he directed teasingly at her while waving a dismissive hand at Steve.

Lilly lowered her head in embarrassment, unable to look either at Tony or at Steve.

"Cut it out, Stark!" Steve warned. "Miss Rosewood?" he offered his arm to Lilly, her clue to act. Lilly took it thankfully and they turned to leave.

"Yeah, just leave me standing here." Stark complained. "Whatever happened to politeness?" he wondered aloud. And then he shouted after the leaving pair in the most lewd voice he could muster "Have a nice night you two!".

The two walked the short way to the driveway of the mansion in silence. Lilly could feel the tension in Steve's arm, but did not know the reason. She looked at him from the corner of her eye, but his face was giving away nothing. When they neared the improvised parking lot, Lilly indicated a small yellow car at the end of a row. She fished the keys out of her purse and hesitated. Turning to Steve, she spoke up again. "You really do not have to do this. Drive me all the way to my apartment, I mean." She clarified again. She got this vibe of hesitation and regret from Steve. Maybe she imagined it, but the light butterfly feeling in her stomach had changed into something else.

"If you would rather stay at the party now, we can go back to …." Steve's voice had lost its shine.

"NO!" Lilly exclaimed. Her hand flew to her mouth to cover the too loud outburst.

Steve's eyebrows knit together.

"I mean, no. I would rather not go back. I don't want to … uhm" she hesitated a bit "meet other people this evening." Sounded that strange? She does not want to meet other people and therefore she goes to a party?

Steve didn't know what to make of this.

"I mean, argh, I …"

"You mean Stark?" Steve asked outright.

Lilly looked up at him dumbstruck and then nodded her silent agreement. Wait, Stark was Iron Man, an Avenger. He was Steve's team mate. Had Lilly just insulted him? She felt cornered and didn't dare to say anything else afraid it would be the wrong thing.

Steve turned towards her and looked her over again. "Did he … did he do anything to you?"

"What? No!" Lilly hurried to clarify. "He didn't do anything. But … but I think he was interested?" she phrased carefully.

She tried to further explain the situation. "He gave me a drink earlier when I needed to calm down" _because I was hiding from you_ "and he got a bit touchy and, you know, people say he is a playboy and …" Wrong road to head down, Lilly! " … and I might over interpret things here but moments ago he offered company and that while he just got back from …" Lilly caught herself before accusing Stark of having sex at the party with who knows whom. She had turned red to the tips of her ears.

Steve's tension had fallen away from him. Lilly was running from Stark not because of their history but because of Stark being Stark. He could perfectly understand that. He laid a hand onto her shoulder to calm her and took the keys from her hand. "I think we should get you home."

Lilly didn't know where she stood now in Steve's opinion after this little display, but it could not be helped now. She settled herself into the passenger's seat after Steve opened the door for her and had buckled up before he reached the driver's side. He squeezed himself behind the steering wheel, a much easier feat once Lilly had shown him how to set back the seat. It really wasn't a car for big guys. The engine roared to life (not a lion roar, more the small kitten roar) and the radio continued playing the CD where it left off when Lilly had parked. The velvety voice of Skye enveloped them and filled the small cabin on their drive to the city. It was soothing to Lilly's nerves and relaxing for Steve.

Lilly gave directions where necessary and sooner than she wished he pulled in the designated parking spot on the side of her small apartment block. She hadn't spent another thought on what she might do once they arrive. The woody scent of the blond male next to her mixed with a slight hint of aftershave was far too distracting and the ventilation made sure she got a lot of it. In the next moment he was next to her door and helped her out of the car. He locked it and handed her the keys while eyeing the scruffy building over her shoulder. The windows on ground level were behind bars, graffiti adored the lower two meters. This wasn't the best part of the city and he had seen two suspicious figures hanging around at the entrance. The alley behind them led to a wire-mesh fence, the entrance to the parking lot was poorly lit by the street lights. With each second, he refined his assessment of the terrain.

"Thank you, Steve." Lilly said meekly.

The sound of his name from her lips had his attention snapping back to her.

"For bringing me home." God, how is she supposed to do that?

"I will escort you inside." He stated.

Lilly was a bit taken aback. That was more forward than she had expected but she didn't protest. When they passed by the two whispering figures in the entrance, Steve sent them a warning glare not to try anything. He accompanied Lilly to the elevator and entered with her. He didn't trust these dimly lit hallways one bit and wanted to make sure she reached her door without trouble.

They stepped off the elevator and headed three doors down. Only when Lilly put her key in the lock and turned back to him did the tension leave his muscles.

And here they were, on her door step. Neither of them had thought of what to do, once they reached it.


	6. Chapter 6

_Little Warning here: This is the chapter that makes this story M-rated. A very mild M though, I might add. Also, its the second last chapter of this story and there will be no sequel._

* * *

"Thank you for bringing me home." Lilly repeated with a wavering voice.

"I just wanted to make sure you get home safely." Steve assured her. He kind of couldn't bring himself to speak the words ' _good night'_ and leave.

They stared a moment at each others feet until Lilly startled them both. "Oh! Your jacket!" She reluctantly shrugged out of the heavy piece of leather and was immediately covered in goosebumps. She handed it over to Steve, who slipped it on, noticing the faint scent of lemon Lilly had left on it.

"Good night, Steve." She whispered. There, she had said it. For lack of alternatives she had said the dreadful words and now the evening was bound to end.

"Good night, Lillian." Steve replied in an almost sensual tone. But he did not turn to leave.

Was that her clue to go into her apartment? But she couldn't just let him stand there in the hallway. Gathering all her courage and convinced she would never see him again, Lilly took a step forward. She rose up on her tiptoes and feathered a kiss on Steve's cheek. Her eyes closed briefly at the contact of her lips on his shaven skin, placing only a peck there, before she lowered herself back onto her heels. That must have been the bravest thing she had ever dared to do. When she opened her eyes again to look at Steve, his eyes where gleaming. His steely blue gazed into her hazel brown ones for only a moment before lowering down a tiny bit. Oh god, was he looking at her lips? The jittery feeling in Lilly's stomach tripled at the thought and her eyes fell to his lips. They looked so soft and warm and close. Very close. Close enough to only lean forward a bit and …

Like a magnetic pull, they both drew closer to one another, Steve lowering his head and Lilly leaning hers back a bit. And then they kissed. Their lips resting on each others without moving, both too astounded by the reaction of the other. They parted mere inches, and then closed the distance again; slightly rubbing their lips against each others. It became a little game. If Lilly drew back, Steve closed the gap immediately and if he felt like propriety said enough, Lilly had a different opinion. The chill of the dimly lit hallway was forgotten as heat rose up in her body, chasing the goosebumps away. Lilly rose onto her tiptoes again and reached her hand around Steve's neck to draw herself up further. Steve in turn encircled her waist with his arms and improper as it might be, he pulled her closer to him, her body touching his lightly. He could feel her bosom pressing warm and soft against his chest and her lips eagerly moved against his, her teeth sometimes nibbling on his lower lip. There was an energy flowing between them he couldn't get enough of. So many sensations at once. The warmth that radiated off of her front and seeped through his shirt, the stroking her fingers were doing to the base of his skull where they wound into his hair, the soft grip she had with her other hand on his arm, the tickling of strands of her hair on his face and then her lips. Oh, her lips.

He lost it when a moist tongue tip darted out and grazed his lower lip, teasing him. All manners and decency forgotten, he opened his mouth and returned it with passion. Their heads angled to the side slightly and his own tongue seek out Lilly's, stroking it, exploring her mouth. She was tugging at his hair, tightening her grip on him and when a soft moan escaped her, the heated passion turned into frenzy. He pulled Lilly even closer, right off her heels, and she lost her balance. Her ankle gave way and she stumbled backwards. Steve followed suit, never losing contact to her lips. The unpleasant thud when Lilly's back met her apartment door was ignored by both. Steve braced himself with one arm against the door, pressing Lilly against it with his own body. Another moan wrangled free from her throat. Only when Steve felt Lilly's hands shift from his neck and arm to his chest, pressing lightly, he leaned back. Lilly was gasping for air, her face heated, wild strands of hair escaping her up-do. Her slightly parted lips were swollen and bright red from the exertion. Her eyes were big like saucers and staring up at him.

Coming somewhat to his senses, Steve didn't know what to do. He had practically assaulted her. He ... he had … she had given him a goodbye kiss and he had taken advantage and had grabbed her and forced … His train of thought was discontinued when he felt a tug forward. Lilly had grabbed the lapels of his shirt, intending to continue now that she had gathered enough oxygen into her system. Her current hormone high made her bold like this and maybe the last hints of whiskey in her veins were doing their part too.

The noise of a starting engine interrupted them moments later. The elevator moved into action and someone might come to this floor, finding them here in the hallway, entangled. Lilly read the concern in Steve's face and before he could decide to flee the scene and leave her standing here, heated up like this, she reached over to her keys, which were still in the lock. She turned them and the door gave way immediately. They both stumbled into her apartment as the 'DING' from the elevator sounded. Lilly pulled the bunch of keys from the lock and closed the door silently. When she turned back to Steve, who stood two feet away from her, he held an unreadable expression on his face. Lilly's confidence suddenly diminished noticeable. She didn't … she hadn't intended to lure Steve into her apartment and trap him here. She stepped away from the door hurriedly, giving him enough room to leave if he wanted. He looked at the door like he wanted to, or so she thought.

Steve's mouth opened and closed without uttering a sound, unsure of what to say. The shocked stare Lilly was directing at him made him uncomfortable. He didn't expect her to invite him in, to offer him anything more then a friendly good night. "I … I am sorry for ..." he began but stopped when Lilly's beautiful doe eyes grew bigger. The longer he drew out what he actually wanted to say the more the wet shine of tears in Lilly's eyes grew. "It will not happen again, that ..." he tried again but stopped when Lilly's lower lip began to tremble.

"You can leave if you want." she whispered in a wavering voice, not looking Steve in the eye.

"You want me to leave?" Why did it sound disappointed to his own ears?

"No!" came the reply before Lilly could stop her mouth. Her hands flew to cover it nonetheless, ashamed of her forward outburst.

Slowly it dawned on Steve that Lilly might have misinterpreted what he was trying to say. For lack of better words he stepped close to her again, putting his hands lightly on her arms and then slowly encircling her into an embrace. He could feel her trembling cease and the erratic breath to smooth out before a real sob could form on her lips. They were far too beautiful for sobs and words of sorry, he decided. And they were too precious to be worried by her teeth, as they currently were.

"I don't want to leave either." his warm baritone sounded before he lowered his head to her again to save her lips from further onslaught by her teeth.

Lilly became pliant, melting into him. Their kiss stayed far longer romantic and shy this time but eventually, their hands began to wander. Steve loosened the embrace and let his hands wander slowly over her waist down to her hips, were they seemed to burn through the soft fabric of Lilly's sun-dress. When they came apart for air, Lilly braced herself on Steve's broad shoulders.

"Let us sit." she pleaded.

Steve looked over her head around the tiny apartment. No couch. But before he could even consider the plastic kitchen chairs, Lilly led him towards her bed with weak knees. But when they reached it, she hesitated. A bed seemed to suggest so much more than kissing.

Steve however did not hesitate. He settled himself on the edge and, in the same motion, drew Lilly down with him. She landed in his lap bridal style, both feet dangling off the side, her arms around his neck. Looking at her feet, she began to giggle and wiggled her bare toes.

Steve was a bit confused at first but then caught on. "Cinderella lost her shoes again." he chuckled. Then his eyes went to her front door. The shoes were still on the hallway! They had not even noticed in their frenzy to get inside. He made a move to get up but Lilly would be damned if he was relocating her.

"Steve, no!" She cried exasperated and slapped his shoulder lightly.

A knowing grin spread across his face. She seemed eager to keep him here, in her bed. With renewed vigour, he dipped her back into his arm. The surprised shriek from Lilly was swallowed by another kiss.

"I could do this forever." he mumbled when they parted.

"Then do it." Lilly breathed.

While Steve's left arm supported Lilly's back, his right hand had been resting right above her knee. But now it started to wander down to stroke her lower leg and then up again over her knee and to her thigh, only this time it went beneath the dress. Lilly's breath hitched and her free hand fisted into Steve's shirt. When his fingertips started to slowly stroke over the lace of her panties, she could not contain herself anymore. She lifted herself up from her position to forced passivity to kneel beside Steve on the bed and pushed him backwards. In the blink of an eye she was straddling him and doing a little hands roaming of herself. His shirt didn't stay on much longer. Neither did her dress. They were rolling over and over, limbs tangling in the comforter, almost falling off the edge of the bed. It was the frenzy from earlier all over again. And then there was the ever growing need for more bare skin. Steve shrugged out of his khakis without breaking the kiss, while Lilly reached behind herself to undo her bra. Another toss-around and her panty was gone, as well as his boxer shorts.

"Steve." Lilly moaned as he writhed above her, pressing himself against her center.

"Steve." She repeated less sensual and more urgent. "Wait." Her hands were pushing against his chest.

Steve stilled. He couldn't bring himself to pull away though, not even enough to meet Lilly's eyes. His head sunk into the crook of her neck, willing himself to find the strength and comply to Lilly's wish. She was the strong one here, the responsible one. They had crossed the line together but she was the one to get them back on safe ground. He couldn't. Mentally he was cursing himself for his selfishness, for letting his instincts rule over his consciousness. He needed to reign himself in, for Lilly's sake. He needed to keep her save.

Steve braced himself on his arms and raised his head enough to look into her face; her beautifully flushed face, eyes shining, hair fanned out around her head like a halo. His movement and the friction it caused sent another shiver through her body. Her eyelids drooped half closed, her lips parting lightly to let out a sigh. All of Steve's doubts were forgotten instantly. She wanted this. She really did. But …

"We need protection." Lilly whispered.

Protection? Oh. OH. _Protection_. He hadn't thought about this. Not the fraction of a second had it crossed his mind.

"I … I do not … I … have no … " he stumbled over the words, eyes turned down guiltily. What a careless bastard he was.

Lilly's eyes turned sideways as she sheepishly announced. "I have." She nodded her head to her night stand. "Over there." Her hands pressed against his chest again and he finally got up and sat back on the bed. Lilly scrambled up and reached over to open the drawer. Oh god, he must think she took men to her bed every other week. She stored condoms in her night stand!

"I … they were a present." She explained embarrassed as she rummaged through the drawer. Great, and now he is wondering who the hell gives her condoms as a present. And indeed he was, if his raised eye brows were any indication.

"My _dear_ co-workers gave them to me for my birthday." She remarked sarcastically. And she was glad that they were still attached to the birthday card as she brought them out. She held the card up to show him the picture of the kitty with boots and cowboy hat.

"They gave you this as a present? At work?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah." Lilly confirmed. If he only knew 10 percent of what was going on in SHIELD offices, he would probably never set a foot into one for fear of his own well-being.

Lilly ripped the strip of tiny foil packages from the card and looked at them. Then her eyes went to Steve's face, his gaze was trained on the condoms in her hand. Her eyes roamed down his body to his lap. Wow. She hadn't seen him until now, only felt the warm and hard smoothness pressed against her, but this, uh … her eyes went back to the packed condoms to check the size. Not that she was competent to gauge the right size but he was more then her Ex. Definitely more. And her Ex had always complained about how regular condoms would squeeze him too much. He probably had been only boosting his ego, but still. The packages read 'large'. Lilly's eyes went back to Steve's lower half. Large indeed. She swallowed.

Steve hesitated to take the silver strip from Lilly's hands. She was still staring at him, hypnotized like a rabbit in front of the snake. _Whoa, Steve, classy comparison_.

The interruption had cooled him down to almost clear thinking. It was not too late to stop this, to preserve Lilly's integrity. Uhm, yeah, they sat naked on her bed, their knees touching. Way to preserve anything. His mind had focused enough for self-consciousness to kick in. Not that he wanted to cover himself. He had adapted to being the well-built man that Erskine had made him and they were clearly past modesty here. What made him hold back was his lack of experience. He was not totally lacking it though. Thanks to Stark and his scheming, he had found scantily clad women in his bed at the Tower more than once. And there had been one breakdown, or maybe two, where he was not strong enough to refuse the company. It hadn't solved his problems, hadn't helped a bit. And it was totally incomparable to this. To Lilly. To the tingling in his finger tips when he wanted to brush her hair back behind her ear under that willow tree at the party, to the halo of lemony scent around her, to the way his knees went all wobbly when her lips had brushed up against his, to the shiver that had travelled up and down his spine when her fingers crawled into his hair.

Lilly was pulled from her own trance when Steve twitched. Down there. He hadn't made a move yet, other than twitching. Why was he hesitant? The condoms had thrown him off track. Or was it her? It was his first complete view of her, naked. She self-consciously pressed her tights together to hide what was in between. He twitched again. Down there.

That was it. Lilly had enough. She wasn't bold, ever, but with him it was so … so … she couldn't contain herself. She robbed forward and closed the last distance between them. The condoms in one hand, she grabbed his neck with her other and pulled him forward, forcing her tongue into his mouth. He complied willingly. Her mouth started to move south then, along his jaw, over the column of his throat, past his heaving chest and his sculptured abs down to his lap. She crouched down low enough to touch her lips to his tip and got a sharp intake of breath as answer. Out of the corner of her eye she could see his fists curling into the comforter. She wet her lips with her tongue and then sensually laid them around him, moving slightly lower and then up again. Steve groaned. Her tongue swirled over the soft skin, her lips still tightly closed around the hard shaft. She was anything but an expert in this, without much practice, but she was someone who aimed to please. She had heard about … this kind of pleasuring … and in a phase of self-pity after her last relationship disaster, she had vowed to herself to make it better next time. And in a very dark night, hidden with her laptop under her blankets, she might or might not have done some internet research on this and watched one or two videos. Or maybe three. But for research only!

Steve seemed to appreciate the outcome of her research. A lot. His hands still clawed at the bed cover, his arms lightly trembling. Between his eyebrows, a small crease appeared from the tension and he bit his lip to tune down the groan that was about to escape his throat. Just when Lilly did this wicked twirl with her tongue again and he could feel a tightening in his groin, he laid a hand on her shoulder and slightly pushed her away, uttering a strangled "Lilly, wait ..."

When she sat up again and looked at him with her big hazel eyes as if to ask if she did something wrong, he could only draw her in and kiss those deep red and swollen lips. He was about to drag her onto his lap, when both of them remembered there was still something important missing. Once the protection was in place, there was no stopping them, though. Steve had turned to lean back against the head board and Lilly knelt over him, one leg on the left, one on the right side of him. Since they were still engrossed with kissing, they had only their hands to guide them. Lilly shifted above Steve's lap, slightly rubbing her moist centre along his length. When he finally grabbed himself to adjust the angle, Lilly moaned on the direct contact and the pleasant burning from being stretched. It took them a while to get adjusted to each other but the sweet anticipation until Lilly sank down on him completely was only increasing the pleasure.

Over the next hours, they discovered that Lilly was two inches too short to have Steve comfortably nibbling on her breasts while she was bouncing on top of him, that Steve was tall enough to kiss her and strong enough to keep his weight off her while being on top and that their favourite was with him on his side behind her and her back to him, engulfed by his arms and his teeth softly nibbling on her neck.


	7. Chapter 7

Her own soft groan woke Lilly up. She couldn't suppress it because of the slight burning sensation from her nether regions that caused her to utter it. When she opened up one eye lazily, early morning sun rays, the only ones that ever reached the inside of her tiny apartment, tickled her senses. Was it morning already? What became of the night? The night that had been so awesome. Why had the night been so awesome again? Oh yes, the SHIELD summer barbecue where she had made an ass out of herself in front of the Avengers and then had hidden in the willow copse and then Steve had joined her and … Steve …

The evening events flooded back to her within the blink of an eye and while subconsciously grabbing the blanket to cover herself, Lilly whirled around to the other side of the bed. Empty. Her racing heart started to slow down. Phew. She hadn't … had she? A second ago, she could have sworn Steve Rogers had brought her home and they had … the thought alone let a flush rise to her cheeks. When she sat up in bed, blinking away the remaining sleepiness, the tingling from down below assured her that indeed she had shared the evening and the night with Steve. It still seemed unreal to her though and the fact that he was nowhere in sight didn't help. He had left, hadn't he? She held her breath for a minute to listen intently but there also came no sounds from the bathroom. And since she could see all other parts of her apt from the bed, there was no doubt that he had left before she awoke. Had he even stayed for the night? Reality started to settle in and Lilly drew the blanket up to her chin as if to hide her disappointment from the world. Steve had been such a sweetheart and gentleman but maybe he had to leave for his duty or something? Lilly swallowed the bitter feelings which started to well up and decided to (wo)man up. The blanket flew to the side and her feet hit the ground with determination. It was a bright Saturday morning and she would not spend the weekend brooding after she had had the most awesome night in her life. Her purposeful steps towards the bathroom, however, turned into an ungraceful waddle. She wasn't really used to this kind of exercise, fun as it may be. After brushing her teeth, she slipped on her favourite dark blue jersey home dress and was just about to decide if she would have the dusty cereals or the last dry bread slice for breakfast when the sound of a turning key from her own front door let her freeze. The kitchen drawer with the knifes was halfway open when Steve stepped into her living room / bed room /kitchen. What was he doing here?

"Good morning." he greeted her tentatively but with a radiating smile.

"Hey." Lilly answered a little perplexed.

"Sorry, I took your keys. I didn't want to wake you by ringing." he apologized while waving her set of apartment keys and then putting them in the little bowl by the door.

"Wake me?" Lilly was still too confused by the situation. Why was he back?

"You were still sleeping and I thought I would get us some breakfast." He carefully placed two big insulated cups onto the counter and started to open the big paper bag, he had with him. Soft cinnamon smell let Lilly come to her senses. "You only left to get breakfast?"

Now it was Steve who was confused. Why would he leave otherwise?

Before he could think of it any further, Lilly started to diffuse the situation in the hope Steve wouldn't notice her misinterpretation and the associated self-consciousness. She put her nose over the mysterious paper bag before he could take out the cinnamon rolls and the chocolate croissants. "Hmm, I love sweets for breakfast!" Lilly exclaimed enthusiastically.

When Steve jokingly pushed her to the side to take out his purchase, she grabbed the bag again and crumpled the top closed. "I have an idea!"

Steve raised his eyebrow at the little whirlwind Lilly was about to become. She bounced over to her dresser and half climbed onto the build-in shelf to reach the top. "I know its not as fancy as a mansion and a fairy garden or something but the view is fantastic." she rambled on while half in the closet. When she re-emerged again, she held a colourful quilted blanket and nodded her head towards the door. "Come, I want to show you!"

Steve grabbed the breakfast and followed Lilly out of her apt and towards the elevator. On their ride to the top floor they both stared at her feet.

"You lost your shoes." Steve smirked. "Again."

Lilly shrugged her shoulders, smirking back. "Only good can come of it." Who would ave thought she could be so cheeky?

It was summer and although it was chilly inside, the morning sun would have warmed up their destination quite nicely. At the top floor, Lilly marched down the corridor and shouldered the heavy emergency fire door open. A few last steps and another metal door and before them lay the roof. The sun had indeed done a decent job in heating up the black tar cover. She didn't come up here very often, afraid that she would not be the only one with this idea but with Steve at her side she felt safe enough. They rounded the air vents and spread the blanket on the side towards the park. The view was clear and sunny.

No words were spoken until both of them sipped on the last of their coffees. None of them knew how to continue from here on. Steve clearly enjoyed Lilly's presence but they couldn't sit on the roof forever.

Just when Steve started with a hesitant "So ...", Lilly interrupted him out of fear he would say something like 'Nice evening. Have a good life then.' and leave. "Would you go to the park with me?" she burst out. Steve shut his mouth again, surprised by Lilly's attack.

"I mean, if you want. There is this cute duck couple and they build a nest and I think ducklings will hatch any day and ..." Her voice got smaller and smaller the more she realized how pathetic her attempt at getting a date with Steve was. To watch a duck couple. Gods, Lilly, grow up!

Steve's eyes turned down to his cup, giving Lilly the answer she had feared. "I am sorry but I can't." Short pause. "I need to go back to base and take the flight back to New York in the evening."

"Oh." was Lilly's only reply.

"No! No, don't get me wrong. I really would like to visit the park but there are still things open from the last mission that can't wait and ..."

"Duty calls, hu?"

"Yeah." Steve admitted defeated. "They pick me up in an hour."

Lilly's shoulders slumped. One hour. So soon.

"But until then, tell me about the duck couple. You know, the farm I used to visit as a kid in summer also had ducks but they were the nastiest creatures that ever lived." he started to tell.

"No way! Ducks are always cute." Lilly disagreed.

"Not when you want to collect the eggs and they snap at your legs. And they have teeth. Tiny, razor-sharp teeth."

The image of Captain America being hunted by a flock of angry ducks had Lilly laughing tears and the soon to happen separation was forgotten. Instead they both stretched out on the blanket, Lilly snuggled close to Steve, and exchanged their when-I-was-a-kid stories.

The work week started all too soon and she hadn't heard of Steve again. He had promised to call but had also warned her that, while on a mission, he could not. On Monday, the whole department was filled with gossiping women. Everyone needed to share their stories from the SHIELD party and how the plan had worked out or when it hadn't. Lilly had listened if it could not be avoided and had given congratulations or made compassionate remarks when appropriate. Her own adventure, however, she had kept to herself. No one asked her since they knew she hadn't been on the list. That was all about to change, when on Wednesday morning a mysterious package of cinnamon rolls from a famous New Yorker bakery turned up along with an envelope with her name on it. The only thing the card inside said was "Feeding ducks tomorrow?"

* * *

 _Thank you all for your reviews and favouriting this story! I do not plan a sequel. That, I leave to your imagination.  
_


End file.
